ANALYSES/Projects
ROMANIA
S-Bahn Concept for Sibiu
German Economic Club in Sibiu promotes a project of linking Sibiu airport with the city
center and industrial zone. A pre-feasibility study proved the project may be successfull
Railway link with the airport/Western
Industrial Zone
Over the past few years, very significant eco-
nomic growth has been achieved in Sibiu and
its environs. In the Western Industrial Zone, in
particular, numerous industrial plants have ap-
peared which has resulted in the creation of
many new work places.
In the vicinity closest to the industrial zone,
there is an airport which is to be renovated in
the next few years to service large planes. In
Sibiu, budget airlines will be using the airport
too and travelling by plane could become gener-
ally available to many more people. This in turn
would increase the passenger numbers from the
60,000 travellers of today to 200,000 a year.
Together with the establishment of industrial
plants and the development of the airport, the
question arises about transport links between
this area and the centre of Sibiu using public
transport, which currently in no way can meet
the future transport demands on this route.
At the present time, the road to Alba Iulia,
the only link between the zone and the Centre, is
constantly overcrowded. As the number of cars
owned by the public increases, the traffic jams
will get worse and become more serious and
inevitably buses will get stuck in them too. In
particular the passengers of airlines are looking
forward to an attractive, fast link between the
airport and the downtown which does not rely
on road transport.
In the direct vicinity of the airport–the dis-
tance to the terminal building is only 150 m —
there is an industrial railway line, which services
the industrial plants in the region (Moara Cibin,
Bramac, etc.). The line runs in such a way that,
with small technical adaptations, it could be
used for passenger transport. Therefore it is
perfect for servicing the airport and the Western
Industrial Zone.
by Jens Kielhorn,
President, Deutscher Wirtschaftsclub Siebenbürgen (DWS)
bus links with Sibiu. The railway traffic on the Sibiu
- Cisnădie route was suspended a few years ago.
Recently, an increasing number of industrial plants
have been located in the region of the former rail-
way station in Cisnădie. Also, people who live there
require good connections with Sibiu.
Re-launching of the railway line Sibiu -
Cisnădie as a southern branch of the fast sub-
urban railways in Sibiu, would be possible at a
relatively low cost as the route still stretches
along the whole distance.
The location of the industrial railway line by the airport
Bearing in mind that the Cisnădie railway
station is 500 m away from the city centre, a
Apart from the passenger halt by the airport, bus line should be established and synchronised
three more halts are planned to service the with the schedule of the fast suburban railways
Western Industrial Zone: timetable. It could transport the railway passen-
• Bricomat Nord gers within Cisnădie itself.
• Bricomat On the section between the railway sta-
• Metro/Ambient (Str. Turda) tion in Sibiu and bifurcation of the route behind
At the station in Turnişor, the industrial rail- Şelimbăr, the fast suburban railways could use
way line joins the SFR line (trunk line no. 200), the exsiting CFR line (trunk line no. 200).
which runs further along the
same route as far as the rail-
way station in Sibiu.
Between the Turnişor sta-
tion and the railway station in
Sibiu, a passenger halt “Halta
Sibiu“ (“a small railway sta-
tion”) will be built. The halt
will provide access to the
new line of fast suburban rail-
ways to the citizens of Ţiglări
and Terezian districts.
Railway link with
Cisnădie/Şelimbăr
To the south of Sibiu, at
the foot of the Carpathians,
is the town of Cisnădie (with
about 18,000 inhabitants). Cur-
rently, the commune has only
Railway Market - CEE Review No. 4 2008 61
ROMANIA ANALYSES/Projects

Therefore the existing halts:

•  Atelier Zona Sibiu is one of the largest cities in Transylvania, Romania. Its population reached 175,000 in 2007.
The city is located some 282 km North-West of Bucharest. Lines no. 200 (Brasov - Făgăraş - Sibiu -
•  Sibiu Triaj / shunting yard Simeria - Arad - Romanian Western Border) and no. 206 (Sibiu - Mediaş) run through Sibiu. There
•  Sibiu Gr. Şelimbăr are three rail stations: the Main Station, the Little Station (Gara Mic) and Sibiu Turnişor. Sibiu has
would have more frequent and, which is an international airport oferring direct connections to Germany and Austria as well as to other
even of greater importance, more regular links Romanian cities. The airport is one of the most modern in Romania. In 2008, the airpot modernisa-
with the downtown. tion project was completed. Altogether, the transport infrastructure received RON 144.9m invest-
As a result, further transport opportunities ments, almost twice as much as in 2006. Also Sibiu is one of the most efficient cities in attracting
would arise: private investments. Since 1990, Sibiu has attracted investments worth RON 850m, of which RON
• In the area of passenger halt “Atelier Zona“, 228m were investetd in the Western Industrial Area alone.
are the residential district “Vasile Aaron“ and
the Eastern Industrial Zone. minutes are feasible – it is also the standard fre- Sibiu Gr. Şelimbăr. Consequently, the travel
• Around the railway station „Sibiu Triaj“ (a quency used by the buses in Sibiu. time could be extened by several minutes.
shunting yard), a new residential district is be- Above you can find the basic parameters
ing built which will benefit from the connection of the proposed line Investments: infrastructure
As described above, the fast suburban rail-
Distances ways in Sibiu would operate fully on the existing
No. km Halt
between halts track sections. In this way the scope of invest-
1 0.000 Bricomat Nord - ment in the infrastructure would be relatively
2 0.535 Bricomat 535 m small in comparison to the transport benefits
3 1.050 Aeroport 515 m created by the project.
In particular, the results would be as fol-
4 2.385 METRO/Ambient (Str. Turda) 1,335 m lows:
5 3.115 Str. Ogorului 730 m
6 3.695 Str. Frigoriferului 580 m Trackbed
7 4.375 Str. Surii Mici (gara Turnisor / Turnişor station) 680 m The industrial line section and the currently
closed section from the bifurcation of the route
8 4.900 Str. Tractorului 525 m in Şelimbăr to Cisnădie require a thorough over-
9 5.400 Str. Ţiglarilor 500 m haul. On a part of this section, rails and sleepers
10 6.180 Sibiu Halta 780 m need to be replaced, ballast needs to be cleaned
11 6.695 Str. D. Bagdazar 515 m and breakstone filled. The track which is current-
ly rail joint bar should be welded using jointless
12 7.750 Sibiu 1,055 m connections for the sake of travel comfort .
13 9.490 Atelier Zona (cartier V. Aaron) 1,740 m At the Turnişor station, a passing track
14 10.550 Sibiu Triaj 1,060 m should be constructed and entrances and exits
15 12.250 Sibiu Gr. Şelimbăr 1,700 m to the CFR trunk line should be integrated in the
existing signal box.
16 19.655 Cisnădie 7,405 m
Railway crossing on the national road by
via the fast suburban railways with the down- Halts: Ogorului, Frigoriferului, Tractoru- Şelimbăr; currently it has no technical safety
town. The travel time from this place to the lui, Ţiglarilor, D. Bagdazar and Sibiu Triaj are measures.
central railway station is only 5 minutes. planned as Request Stops. On five of the railway crossings, including
Thanks to the “Sibiu Gr. Şelimbăr” halt for the the national road by Şelimbăr, safety systems
fast suburban railways, it would take 7 minutes Assuming that the current travel speeds should be installed.
to reach the centre of Şelimbăr from Sibiu on a will be retained, the first study on creating The CFR trunk line on the section Turnişor
regular basis. the timetable was undertaken , which brought station - Sibiu railway station - track bifurcation
It should be assumed that such an attrac- about the following results: in Şelimbăr will be only co-used, therefore no
tive and modern local transport link will result in •  15 minutes investment is required.
the further settlement of residents and industry •  12 minutes
around the railway halts. •  18 minutes Halts
•  33 minutes The halts are a showcase for the local pub-
Concept of the operation In order to maintain keep a 30 minute fre- lic transport. Being able to wait for the train in
It was initially assumed, for the purpose quency of trains three trains are required. pleasant surroundings, and, if possible, without
of conceptualising the future operation, that The trains would pass one another regu- having to cross barriers to embark on the train,
the fast suburban railways in Sibiu will run on larly at the Turnişor station and on the double- contribute significantly to a better perception of
the existing railway infrastructure. The CFR track section between the stations: Sibiu and public transport.
railway network, as public infrastructure, is
available to every railway company in return Table 1. Investment costs
for a fee. Unit price
In order to use private industrial tracks, Unit Total
EUR
agreements must be made with their owners,
Overhaul of the trackbed 10,280 m 300 3,084,000
which would also make it possible to operate
freight traffic in the future. Passenger halts 16 items 50,000 800,000
While working on the operational concept, Adaptation of Turnişor signal box 1 items 50,000 50,000
the emphasis was put on the maximum utilisa- Passing track in Turnişor 1 items 150,000 150,000
tion of the existing infrastructure, and keeping
investments on an economically sound footing. Protective measures for railway crossings 5 items 100,000 500,000
Until the CFR trunk line is electrified, the fast Improvement of the halts’ surrounds 16 items 150,000 2,400,000
suburban railways should be operated with the Vehicles 4 items 1,500,000 6,000,000
use of diesel traction.
12,984,000
From the very beginning, a regular service is
planned. Trains running with a frequency of 30 Project costs (vehicles excluded) 5.0% 349,200

62 Railway Market - CEE Review No. 4 2008

 ANALYSES/Projects
Table 2. Operating costs

ROMANIA
Unit Unit price Total
Fees for using the route paid to CFR 234,323 km of the ride EUR 2.40 EUR 562,376
Maintenance of own tracks 10 km EUR 5,000.00 EUR 51,400
Tidying and maintenance of platforms 16 item EUR 2,500.00 EUR 40,000
Maintenance of railway crossings 5 item EUR 2,000.00 EUR 10,000
Costs of diesel oil 498.560 km of of the ride EUR 0.80 EUR 398,848
Costs of railway staff 21.349 hour EUR 2.86 EUR 60,997
Costs of maintenance and cleaning staff 3.600 hour EUR 2.57 EUR 9,257
Material costs of maintenance and cleaning 4 vehicles EUR 20,000.00 EUR 80,000
Administration/Overheads/Distribution 1 Lump sum EUR 121,288 EUR 121,288
EUR 1,334,165
Table 3. Revenues
car repair works in Sibiu should be used. Costs
Average revenue from single passenger EUR 0.50 are divided into investment costs and operating
costs. A rough profit and loss account would look
Annual revenue from tickets EUR 934,800,000 like this (Table 1, 2, 3).
Level of cost coverage 70%
Summary
In Sibiu, if the existing track infrastructure
For this reason we recommend a unified style door area. A great number of such units is used, there is a possibility of introducing a
of platform, with a height of 550 mm and length of have been manufactured in Europe over the system of the fast suburban railways relatively
50 m. As a result, it will be possible to get on a train last 10 years, so they are mostly vehicles of cheaply.
from the same level (floor height = 575 mm). proven quality. An example of such vehicle Investment costs, including costs of vehi-
All halts will be equipped with shelters, is the “blue arrow” of the Desiro class used cles, amount at EUR 700,000 per one km of
benches, good lighting and information display by the CFR so far mainly on long distance tracks.
boards for passengers. It will be possible to routes, whereas in the rest of Europe it is Operating costs, i.e. about EUR 2.70 per
reach platforms via ramps. used for local transport. each covered km, largely depend on the fees

There should be an agreement with CFR that
all halts situated by the CFR trunk line should be
modernised to meet the same standard.
In total, 16 platforms will be needed, 9 of
which will be on the CFR section.
Except for the platforms, the surrounding of
the halts should also undergo refurbishment:
It will consist of:
• installing signs by the roads leading to the
halts — if possible the distances should be
given
•  creating parking lots, cab stands
•  installing racks for storing bicycles
• if necessary, bus stops should be relocated
close to the train halts
the surrounding area should be tidied up and
kept clean.
Investments: rolling stock
The rolling stock planned for servicing
the fast suburban railways are light diesel
units with the 575 mm floor height in the
Light traction vehicles:
•  are attractive in terms of design
•  have air-conditioning
•  generate a low level of noise
•  run smoothly
•  are easy to board.
The type of the traction unit that should be
used on the fast suburban railways in Sibiu should
have the following parameters:
•  min. speed 100 km/h
•  length 40-45 m
•  min. 120 seats
•  floor level in the door area max. 575 mm
•  2 motors, each min. 275 kW
•  max. axle load 15 t
•  max. price EUR 1.5m
In order to ensure the 30-minute frequency of
trains, three vehicles are needed; one spare ve-
hicle should also be in stock — that is why four
vehicles should be bought.
For the correct maintenance of vehicles, either
the right equipment should be bought or the CFR
paid to CFR for the use of railway line. If a
lower fee is agreed on than EUR 2.40 per km, it
seems possible that the fast suburban railways
can finance themselves.
In view of the increasing use of motor cars
and the already overcrowded road system, fast
suburban railways seem attractive: their trans-
port routes are fully independent from road
transport. That is also why the railways can be
a more punctual, faster and efficient transport
mode than the current bus and trolleybus serv-
ices in Sibiu.
With parking lots created systemically around
peripheral railway halts, drivers will be encour-
aged to switch to the fast suburban railways. This
process will be accompanied by the reduction of
parking lots in the city centre and its vicinity.
Therefore, for the reasons mentioned
above, the concept of the construction of fast
suburban railways is recommended for the
decision-makers to implement.  ❙

Railway Market - CEE Review No. 4 2008 63